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Playing another campaign game against Tyronec, this time in 41 as the Axis. This game started back in march on the 2.24 beta. I'm going to give my thoughts and try to give advice about playing with the axis and try my best for an amazing 41 summer campaign.

Rules:

Unlocked TB
No temporary motorisation
No para drops
Naval invasions are ok, but no naval invasions west of Sevastopol after it's been captured.
No massed small missions of GA/NP air directives.
If an encirclement is reopened, support units cannot be transfered through ZOC or unless they have not been isolated for a turn.
No using airborne units to bypass the guards limit.

Let's begin.

T1 - June 22, 1941
T1 air phase sees 3,323 VVS losses for 145 LW losses. I know I can do better than that, but I already spent a lot of time micro managing the air directives and was tired of it. I like micromanagement, but not this type of micromanagement .
Here's just a photo of how far I got in the north with only just infantry aside from one motorised division that went for riga and the port in kurland. If you are able to breakthrough with just your infantry this deep with minimal combat delay on crucial hexes, you will pierce very deep with your motorised units and keep their CPP high as they do not need to fight as much this turn.
PG 4 pierce through well past Daugavpils which is my minimum goal for T1 for AGN. elements of PG3 also cross the Divina and prepare for a drive at Vitebsk T2. Pockets should all be secure.
The main encirclement at Bialystok - Minsk. See how I handle the sealing of the encirclement to ensure that it isn't reopened while still driving as far as possible; you don't have to have a unit on every hex, in this situation ZOC is more than enough to keep the encirclement closed. The only areas where I didn't have any ZOC as marked I have terrain to prevent soviet units from breaking out (swamps and heavy woods).

AGS:
Pushing at Rovno and capturing Lvov. Did not activate SW Front. I did not focus on encircling many units and the Soviet mountain infantry will be encircled T2 as they have been ZOCed.
Losses for the turn, not much to note except that I am usually pretty aggressive with my panzers as you can see I already lost 100 AFVs the first turn. My opinion on the how you should use them is that you need find a fine balance between relaxing with them and when to strike with them as they are the units that will win you the battles. The early turns in the GC41 campaign presents you with unique opportunities where the motorised divisions excel in as the Soviets are usually in full retreat and many hexes are open to being flipped; perfect for maneuver warfare. You will see what I mean in the upcoming turns. Also note another 1300 VVS aircraft was shot down for about 100 LW losses during the ground phase.

T2 - June 29, 1941

AGC:
PG3 and PG2 continue to push for Smolensk. I need to reach it asap before soviet defenses have been set up to capture it quickly. Tyronec left the land bridge undefended and a motorised regiment came a hex away from Smolensk proper. Other objectives such as Vitebsk and Mogilev have also been captured and footholds have been developed past the Dniper. My plan for AGC is to use both PG3 and PG2 to envelop, destroy any forces, and to capture Smolensk by at least T6, earlier if I can get a bit of luck.

A single motorised division and the cavalry division are sent with infantry support to capture Gomel.

AGN:
In the North, the battle of Pskov begins. I manage to take a hex across the river but unfortunately no unit is able to occupy the hex itself. A noticeable setback. Another thing to note is that I used the security divisions to mop up resistance in pockets while I send the good troops forward. This is the ideal usage of these troops to keep the speed of your advance as quick as possible. It's fine to not eliminate all the isolated units immediately. You have 7 turns before the security divisions head to the Soviet Garrison and those encircled units aren't going anywhere.

AGS:
Not much to mention except the fact that multiple encirclements have been pulled off. Some of them will be reopened but I have enough infantry to keep them screen for the next turn and will be able to keep the panzers pushing forward.

AGA:
Army Group Antonescu brushes aside Soviet resistance and 11A makes its way towards Odessa. An infantry encirclement is conducted against another Soviet mountain division

Losses: Cleaning up of the massive encirclements and fighting throughout the front have yielded cost the Soviets about 455,532 losses. Of which 394,692 are irrecoverable.

Is it just me though or are my photos really difficult to see? They look alright if you zoom in but on 100% they are hard to see.

i use 140% zoom on this forum
and its fine for me

I do not have problems seeing the pictures.

I cannot see the screenshots, if if I open in a new tab. They are just very small.

looks fine to me, but I do think the new forum seems a bit more variable. If I can, I try for less than full width on my images.

Impressed with the speed of AGC, one fears Tyrone has just factored that in, but it gives you some interesting options

Er no, I didn't factor in what was going to happen. What a disaster....

T3 - July 6, 1941

AGC
The battle for Smolensk begins. PG3 begins the initial flanking attack north of the city while PG2 lagging a bit behind moves into position South of the city and resting for CPP as much as possible. The panzers have far outrun the infantry as infantry support is still about 2 turns behind.

AGN The Soviet line on the river has been broken and its units scattered. Totenkopf division is next to Pskov. Infantry divisions are still marching up but are finally reaching the front.
XX Corps has been assigned to capture Velikie Luki. This city is crucial for any advance into the vladai region, which in turn is very important for holding the flanks of AGC if I decide to drive on Moscow.
Here are the states of the rail lines in the North. Very promising. Currently we are on turn 8 and the R.A.D units concentrated in a single corps have already made major connections when the time comes it should help with my logistics and troop movements in the north.

AGS
This turn half the motorised troops are resting for CPP. I still achieve the goal I set for this turn which was the capture of Zhitomir and the securing of at least 8 more rail hexes. The drive on Kiev will continue. The way I am structuring my advance into Ukraine though is that two motorised corps are moving to Kiev while one motorised corp (XIV) is further South. This gives me the opportunity to divert from Kiev if needed and to encircle any units caught in between the motorised corps.

AGA (Army Group Antonescu) Not much to note, 11A continues on to Odessa and the rest of the units rest or fan out into Southern Ukraine.

Losses:
Luftwaffe losses are too high operationally as a result from too many miles traveled. I will begin to deploy air groups closer to the front even if more supplies get used up. I really value my air support, they are basically super mobile artillery that definitely win you battles.

T4 - July 13, 1941

AGC:
The fiercest fighting of the war so far takes place at Smolensk. With the speed of my advance, the city itself is encircled with 11 divisions caught. The fighting can be characterised by the massive tank battles that take place.
These aren't all the battles that took place near Smolensk that turn but are some of the more noticeable ones.

AGN:
Tyronec abandons Pskov, practically the entire army group is set to rest and regain CPP save a few attacks to dislodge units on the rough terrain.

AGS:
Like I said above, the approaches to Kiev were heavily guarded and had in depth defenses. The panzer corps divert from Kiev and encircle Vinnitsa, similar to Uman. 6 Divisions encircled. A shame that the encirclement takes place on the rail line that I need to repair, but those 6 units are worth the delay.
AGA:
Odessa should be isolated by land next turn and siege artillery and engineers are being sent to 11A to take the city once isolated by a naval patrol.

Losses & Summary:
Image of the front. The front lines honestly look pretty similar to how they did in real life. I've made tremendous progress in the center but after the fighting at Smolensk they need significant rest and resupply before continuing on to whatever their next objective is.
Losses for this turn have been large for both sides, particularly in AFVs. 265 Axis AFVs have been lost for 2479 Soviet AFVs, mostly in the centre. I've also overextended the luftwaffe too much and they have taken massive losses as well, 324.

The massive Soviet AFV losses have brought their AFV numbers to an all-time low of 4578 AFVs by the end of T4.

especially in the centre, this reads more as a historical re-enaction ... but your opening is impressive, so going to be interesting to see how the inevitable pause sets up the next phase

To be fair, if I can historically re-enact the German 41 campaign (probably not), that's better than what most players can do as Axis in HvH.

aye, esp vs Tyrone, i'd mark that up as a truely impressive performance

but its a good start, must have him a bit off balance as it disrupts the usual pattern of Smolensk being a barrier till T6/7

but its a good start, must have him a bit off balance as it disrupts the usual pattern of Smolensk being a barrier till T6/7

While I have made many mistakes in this game I think it is very hard for the Soviets to hold on to Smolensk to T6/7. My guess is that if falling around T4/5 would be fairly par progress for Axis.

T5 - July 20, 1941

AGC:
The encirclement at Smolensk is cleared. Around 120,000 men are lost. Units are resting except for a panzer corps sent south to take control of AGCs southern flank.